Two faculty members appointed to Order of Canada

January 2, 2015

Dr. Joanne Douglas

Two faculty members Julio Montaner, Professor of Medicine, Head, UBC Division of AIDS, and Director, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Joanne Sullivan Douglas, Clinical Professor Emerita, UBC Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics and long-time B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Centre anesthesia expert have been recognized by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, as Officers of the Order of Canada.

The honour recognizes Dr. Douglas’s leadership and contributions to the anesthesiology community.

“It is an incredible honour to have been appointed to the Order of Canada and to be included with past and present members who have accomplished so much,” said Dr. Douglas.

Dr. Montaner’s contributions to establishing the global standard of care for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, and for his leadership in the international HIV/AIDS research community and Dr. Sullivan’s remarkable contributions to the practice of medicine in Canada has allowed him to be recognized with this honour.

Dr. Julio Montaner

“Receiving the Order of Canada is a tremendous and humbling achievement,” said Dr. Montaner. “I had a unique opportunity to help a population that, in the beginning, few wanted to work with. I attribute my success to the inspiration provided by my patients, as well as the guidance provided by my parents and the support of my wife and children, and my many outstanding coworkers and colleagues at the BC-CfE.”

“I will continue in my life-long pursuit to eliminate HIV and AIDS in BC, in Canada and the world, so that we can truly achieve an AIDS-free generation globally,” said Dr. Montaner. “Our made-in-Canada Treatment as Prevention strategy is now providing the road map for the global control of HIV/AIDS. It is my hope we can transfer the lessons learnt in the fight against HIV/AIDS to other communicable diseases, as part of a targeted disease elimination strategy that can uniquely contribute to the sustainability of our valued health care system.”